James Anderson: Players should "hurt like hell" after defeat

England paceman James Anderson has warned of the danger of a dressing-room environment being too nice, insisting the players should "hurt like hell" after suffering defeat.

Anderson was writing in his column for The Sun in the wake of England's 2-0 series defeat against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, a reverse which he says has left him feeling frustrated.

The 33-year-old's brilliant performances over the past month have taken him up to joint second in the International Cricket Council's Test bowling rankings.

But even his best efforts - defying critics who suggested he could not be effective in these desert conditions, by taking 13 wickets at under 16 each - came to nothing as England lost two matches out of three.

In his newspaper column, Anderson describes the "relaxed environment" under the current England management regime.

"The England dressing room is a relaxed environment. Alastair Cook has scored more runs this year than ever before, head coach Trevor Bayliss is calm and understated and assistant coach Paul Farbrace is a fun guy," he wrote.

"But the danger of a nice atmosphere is that we try our best and, if we lose, well, people shrug their shoulders.

"It should hurt like hell if we lose."

England's leading all-time wicket-taker excelled himself, and his pace colleague Stuart Broad also bowled wonderfully well at times.

Others, however, were found wanting.

He said: "I was pleased with my performances in the three Tests against Pakistan, but I am still flying home today with an overwhelming sense of frustration.

"We should have won at least one Test. But we didn't - and instead we learned some stark realities... that matches in this part of the world can be lost in an hour."

The veteran paceman does not want to hear any excuses either.

"A missed chance or a batting collapse can kill a team in these conditions.

"To succeed, you need five days of skill, fight and resilience. We weren't able to produce that.

"There's only so long we can keep saying we're an inexperienced side that is still learning - at some stage we need to start winning regularly," he added.

"This is the nucleus of the team for the next 12 months, and it's up to all of us to make sure our games are bang on so we can progress."

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